Shun arrogance, follow law: Priyank Kharge doubles down on RSS transparency demand

The Karnataka vs RSS face-off has escalated with state Home Minister Priyank Kharge doubling down on his demand for legal and funding details of the organisation. In a fresh statement, the Congress leader urged the RSS to "shun arrogance" and follow the law of the land, asserting that it cannot simultaneously exercise "enormous social and political influence" while repeatedly insisting that it has no political agenda.

The minister's comments came a day after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat dismissed his demands seeking details about the legal, organisational, funding, expenditure, and tax-related aspects of the 100-year-old organisation, saying that no outfit can stand above the law in a democracy. Bhagwat had termed the demand a political gimmick, saying Hindu Dharma does not require registration.

Kharge said Bhagwat's immediate assertion that the RSS is under no obligation to answer any questions — "while he enjoys every protocol funded by taxpayers" — is the most troubling aspect of the controversy. He said it reflects a mindset that public accountability is optional and that the organisation stands above legal scrutiny.

"In a constitutional democracy, no institution, however old or influential, enjoys that privilege. Shun the arrogance, follow the law and have your “office bearers” or “legal heads” come and explain to me," he said while sharing a video of the RSS chief and commenting on Karnataka's demand.

"In a constitutional democracy, no institution, however old or influential, enjoys that privilege. Shun the arrogance, follow the law and have your “office bearers” or “legal heads” come and explain to me," he said, sharing a video of the RSS chief, commenting on Karnataka's demand.

Citing the RSS as the ideological foundation of the BJP, Kharge said the organisation has every right to function as a cultural body, as it claims to be, but it "cannot simultaneously exercise enormous social and political influence while repeatedly insisting that it has no political agenda and therefore owes no public accountability".

The Karnataka Home Minister claimed that the RSS receives donations through a vast ecosystem of over 2,500 affiliated organisations, both domestic and overseas, and operates from a sprawling headquarters in Delhi as well as offices in other state capitals.

"The RSS chief enjoys the Advanced Security Liaison protocol and other people of RSS have protocols funded by the taxpayer and the public is entitled to know whether the organisation complies with the same legal standards expected of everyone else," he said, adding that a formal recognition under law would settle this contradiction once and for all.

In another post on X, he claimed that the RSS chief had asserted that, unlike the Army, the organisation could prepare a force and raise an army within three days to fight at the border. He asked, "If an “NGO” claims it can mobilise an army faster than the armed forces of India, shouldn’t a State Government have the right to know its legal status, structure, training, funding, command chain and accountability?"

He argued that the remark cannot be treated as a mere statement but "raises serious questions of national security, public order and constitutional accountability".

PRIYANK KHARGE VS RSS

A political face-off emerged last week after Priyank Kharge, with the RSS celebrating 100 years since its founding, demanded that the organisation furnish details of its legal status and organisational structure, its office-bearers and authorised representatives, sources of donations and other income, as well as information regarding its expenditure, assets, and tax payments.

On Monday, he wrote a detailed letter to Mohan Bhagwat seeking the same information, arguing that an organisation of such mammoth scale cannot remain outside legal oversight.

However, the RSS chief rejected the demands, saying the outfit has functioned publicly in India for more than a century and that no one had ever asked for its registration before. He described Kharge's demands as politically motivated, asserting that Hindu Dharma does not require registration.

"Hindu Dharma is not registered. Many things are not registered. Those who want funds from the government require registration. That has to be there. But the government knows the Sangh exists," Bhagwat said during an interaction in Kerala on Sunday.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader R Ashoka hit out at Kharge, claiming that the RSS row was part of his strategy to counter Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who is "daydreaming" that he alone will be the Congress' chief ministerial candidate in the 2028 Assembly elections.

Ashoka said, "In an attempt to curry favour by appeasing fake Gandhi high command in Delhi and somehow become the next chief ministerial candidate, Priyank Kharge has chosen to make the RSS a bogeyman".

State BJP president BY Vijayendra also criticised Kharge, saying that calls for transparency sound ironic coming from someone who belongs to a party like Congress, whose political ecosystem still owes the nation clear answers on the National Herald controversy.

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